To sing is to pray twice

I was eight years old when our church building burned to the ground. While the church was undergoing reconstruction, our family worshiped at another congregation 30 minutes away from our home. How to keep an eight-year-old occupied on this drive in an era when there were no smartphones.

A few good hymns did the trick. During what seemed to me a long, boring sermon, I would find a good hymn in our hymnal and copy out its verses onto the back of the bulletin. This kept me both occupied and quiet.

Research has shown that we recall text better with music. It’s no surprise that many of my musical memories come from worship, and many of those memories also carry with them strong emotions. Consider this your invitation to pause today, identify a hymn that has special meaning in your life and reflect on the hymn and all it means to you. Some say that to sing is to pray twice. May you have many prayers this day!

This message is an excerpt from a Women of the ELCA blog by Linda Post Bushkofsky. Today we remember George Herbert, hymnwriter, who died in 1633.

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